A NEW series highlights the lifesaving role of the Cornwall Air Ambulance and gives an eye-level look at the call-outs attended by crew.

Cornwall Air 999 was filmed with the paramedics and pilots this summer and early autumn, following them in the air and on the ground as they helped the ill and the injured all over the county.

Among the shouts on a recent episode was one to the A30, where husband and wife Kevin and Joy Gross, who live in Liskeard, had come off their motorbike at 70mph in the outside lane.

Body-worn cameras show us how the medics climb a fence to get to the couple and calmly assess and begin treating their injuries: Joy with a suspected broken arm and Kevin with a very nasty arm wound and broken ribs.

It was the first ever time that Joy had ridden pillion on Kevin’s bike; the couple had been heading to the North Coast.

“The rear tyre went, I didn’t realise that at the time, I just lost control,” said Kevin.

“The bike started snaking and then went away from us and we came off. Joy tumbled, and I slid down the road and we ended up in the central reservation.”

Thankfully the oncoming vehicles came to a standstill and the couple were helped to the verge by another motorist.

“The air ambulance was there very quickly. Those guys are really so good. And that’s not to take anything away from the land ambulance. It’s only when it happens to you, that you realise how you put your life in their hands. We are very, very grateful and lucky to have that in our area.”

Kevin, 58, and Joy, 57, are familiar faces to residents in the Liskeard area as they have both worked in the town’s supermarkets for many years.

Kevin, formerly a senior at Morrison’s, stepped down from the role after a diagnosis of cancer and is now semi-retired, working where he started out his trade as a youngster, in the butchery. He is the company’s longest serving member of staff in Liskeard with 27 years at the store, which was previously Safeway.

Looking back at a framed photo of the Cornwall Air Ambulance presented to him at work in 2001, Kevin says he never would have thought at the time that nearly 20 years later, he’d be needing its help.

“Joy and I have been involved in lots of fundraising at Morrison’s for the air ambulance,” he said.

“We always make our local causes very welcome. We have supported the air ambulance over the years and will continue to do so.

It’s been a very hard year for the Cornwall Air Ambulance Trust, says Kevin, as their normal fundraising avenues have largely been closed.

“I think the programme is really highlighting the good cause.”

Cornwall Air 999 is on Discovery’s Really channel on Tuesday nights at 9pm and on playback.